


Death Seeker

by PyrophobicDragon



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: (But not that bad), Gen, Suicide Attempt, mild descriptions of gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 08:39:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7215382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PyrophobicDragon/pseuds/PyrophobicDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Genji had a new family now, and he doesn't need his killer hanging around.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow. I haven't written in forever. Please heed the tags. Also, please let me know if there's anything I need to fix, tag, modify.... Another side note, I can't be bothered to write McCree's speech phonetically, but I do hope I got his general speech patterns correct enough. Actually, apply that last sentence to all of the characters.

The cherry trees are blooming again in Hanamura. The frail pink blossoms are visible by the dim light of the moon outside of the window Hanzo sits against. They were also blooming the last time he was here, two years ago, when he met his brother for the first time _after_.

Two years since Genji.

One year and a eight months since Overwatch.

He was so sure at the time that he would hate Overwatch, hate all these colorful strangers, hate being in the presence of his brother again, a breathing reminder of all the wrongs he had wrought.

But Overwatch was a purpose, and the strangers were passable, and his brother was alive, alive and not dead, _(although not entirely whole)_ , but he still ended up hating it for an entirely different reason.

All the strangers in Overwatch were so full of hope and compassion and determination. They were so altruistic, here to help and save lives--

But he was here for atonement. Among all the soldiers and doctors and revolutionaries, he alone was a kin-killer. He had killed his brother and he came here expecting to find redemption. And sometime in the last twenty months he realized something:

Sometimes, the best way to apologize was to remove oneself from the conversation entirely.

And so he was here, writing long letters by the light of the moon in the wee hours of the morning. 

One letter to Overwatch. One letter to Genji.

It was the coward's way out, yes. If he was a better man, he would have gritted his teeth and kept trying, kept fighting, kept working for something he would never see.

But he never claimed to be a good man. And besides, while his skills were valuable, Genji would be better off without a reminder of worse days skulking around. He had to think of his brother.

He signed both letters and tucked them into envelopes. The envelopes were taped onto the refrigerator in the kitchen. Someone was bound to find them in the morning. While he didn't need his bow and quiver where he was going, he took them anyways. He's had them by his side for so long now that leaving them behind now was a blasphemy.

He tried to stay quiet as he exited the safehouse via the second floor balcony. In fact, he was so focused on staying quiet he didn't notice the figure on the balcony until he literally ran into it.

"Oof! Aww, shit."

Both Hanzo and McCree watched as the lit cigar tumbled away into the dark street below. Hanzo grimaced. "I apologize-"

"Naw. It's fine, I'm sure I have another one around somewhere. Now, where're you going in a hurry this time, partner?"

Hanzo hesitated for a split second. He didn't expect to find someone else awake. "I- I was out of wine. I wished to-"

McCree interrupted him again. It was a serious problem, although in this case it was almost welcomed. "Couldn't wait til morning, eh? That desperate for a nightcap?"

Hanzo felt himself beginning to flush, and he hoped it wasn't visible in the dark. "Excuse me-"

"Naw, naw. Just ribbing on ya." McCree stretched and yawned. "Although I wouldn't say no to a drink right now, to be honest. Anyways, go on your shopping trip. I won't keep ya any longer. See ya tomorrow."

 _See you tomorrow_. Ha. "I- goodbye, McCree. Sleep well." Hanzo slipped away towards the exterior stairs.

McCree watched him go, then shuffled around looking for another cigar. He cursed when he couldn't find one, and headed back inside.

***

After about a decade of entrances and exits, breaking into the Shimada castle was laughably easy. As always, Hanzo ended up in one specific room, kneeling in front of his old sword. This time, instead of setting out incense, he set out a cup of sake and took a moment to breathe. Then, he reached out and picked up his sword for the first time _since_.

It felt awkward and unfamiliar in his hand. He immediately felt the urge to put it down again, but he kept it in his hand, testing the weight, the length, the edge. This would be significantly more unpleasant with a dull blade. He removed his bow and quiver and set them aside, then downed the sake in one gulp. He sat with his eyes closed for a second, then wrapped both hands around the blade securely.

The tip sank into his abdomen, then drew in a sharp horizontal line across, and he fell backwards. Staring up at the ceiling, he supposed he should stab somewhere else for a quicker death--the heart, perhaps, or maybe a slice across the throat--but the sake combined with the copious amounts of plum wine he had drunk while writing the letters was already making him feel muggy. The pain was a dull ache in his abdomen as he let his eyes fall shut.

***

McCree walked towards the kitchen. He had heard somewhere, sometime, that one should store tobacco in the refrigerator for short periods of time, and he saw no reason why he shouldn't. Angela was always on his case about it, though, but he was used to her harping about his smoking habit. If he wanted to smoke himself into an early grave, so be it.

As he reached for the handle, an envelope on the refrigerator caught his eye. It was addressed "To any member of Overwatch," so he shrugged to himself and yanked it off the fridge and opened it. There were two pieces of paper inside, one in English, one in a different language--Japanese?--so he started with the English one.

He barely got halfway down the page before his eyes widened and he glanced down to the end of the letter, to the stylized H that signed the letter. Then he was barreling down the hallway, shouting for Genji.

***

Genji was jolted awake by an incessant pounding on his door and a gruff voice shouting his name. He jumped out of bed and yanked open the door, squinting at the man on the other side. "McCree? What-"

"Where would your brother go if he wanted to off himself?"

Genji blinked. "Wha-"

Then a piece of paper was being shoved into his hand, with a terse "Read this. Quickly."

The letter was written in Japanese, and he skimmed it as fast as he could.

_I tried....Coward's way....Never could atone enough....I'm sorry...._

And at the very end: _Your loving brother, Hanzo._

When he looked up, they had gathered quite the crowd of sleepy agents wondering what was going on and why Genji was looking like someone had run over his dog with a monster truck. Winston and Angela were standing next to McCree, reading another letter over his shoulder.

McCree asked again, gentler. "Genji, where would your brother go to kill himself?"

Genji was vaguely aware he was quivering slightly. "I'm afraid I no longer know my brother well enough to say."

Angela asked, "Name the first place that comes to mind."

"Shimada Castle, in the room where he killed me."

***

They reached the castle in twelve minutes. It took two to climb the walls and enter the deserted castle. It took one and a half to find the room where their near-fatal showdown occurred. 

Those fifteen and a half minutes were far too much when he saw his brother's body on the floor.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanzo wakes up. It's not a perfect ending, but it's a new beginning.

He had the distinct, uncomfortable feeling of floating. Luckily, something was weighing him down, keeping him from drifting off to eternity. There was a faint, annoying beeping in his ear, which got louder and louder as the slowly came back to himself--

He peeled his eyelids apart, allowing a sliver of light to peek through. He opened them further to reveal--

White ceiling. Bright lights. A golden-haired woman hovering just inside his line of sight--

Wait.

Mercy smiled ever so gently at him. "Hanzo, how are you feeling? Are you in pain or distress?"

He was alive. He wasn't--but he tried to--

He knew he should have gone for the heart.

When Mercy's blue eyes widened slightly, he realized he said that out loud. He cleared his throat. "My apologizes. No, I am not in pain. I'm feeling quite--"

As he spoke, he reached up with his right hand to rub his stomach then froze. Glancing down, he noticed soft cloth cuffs encircling his wrists and ankles, keeping him shackled to the bed.

Mercy grabbed his arm before he could start yanking on the cuffs in panic. "I'm sorry, Hanzo, but we have you on intense suicide watch for now, until we can be sure you're not an immediate threat to yourself. I would usually argue against restraints, but Genji has told us that your training guarantees you can harm yourself with nearly anything."

Hanzo closed his eyes and forced himself to relax, taking a few deep breaths, and nodded. It was true.

"I'm truly sorry about the restraints. I promise you, if you're willing to cooperate, we can take them off sooner rather then later." She paused, as if to gauge his reaction, then continued. "I hope you know that this is not a punishment. We're only trying to help you. You are Overwatch now, and we take care of our own."

Hanzo nodded again, then opened his eyes. She was smiling at him again. "I believe your brother wants to talk to you. If you feel distressed during your conversation, you can ask him to leave at any time. Understand?"

"Yes. Thank you."  _I wish you'd let me die._

***

Genji enters the room. Hanzo spends most of the awkward silence counting tiles in the ceiling and doing sums in his head so he doesn't have to look at him. Familiar enough yet different enough to be painful both ways.

Finally Genji releases a sound--a sigh, maybe--and sits down in a chair next to the bed. "Hanzo...."

"I hop you will not ask me to explain myself. I thought I had written my letter clearly enough that there would be no misunderstandings."

Genji releases a sound again. This time, it might have been a huff. "Yes, I did read your letter. But I don't understand why you would believe I would be 'better off without you.'" Here Genji makes ridiculous finger air quotes and Hanzo resists the urge to roll his eyes. "After all, I have told you I forgive you for your actions."

"Yes, you have forgiven me," Hanzo starts slowly. "And I have apologized. So there is no more need for reconciliation. And Overwatch has welcomed you, and made you a definite part of their family." The  _unlike the Shimada clan_ went unsaid. "Therefore, with your past settled, and your future assured, there is no more need for me to stay with you in the present." He finally looks at Genji. "There is no use in having a dark reminder of you past marring your future. You don't need me with you."

"But I want you with me. You are the only one who was there when we clashed, yes. But you were also the only one who was there when I was a ridiculous youth." Genji stood from his chair and knelt by the bed to be closer to Hanzo. "You were the only one there when we climbed the cherry trees. You were the only one there when we played hide-and-go-seek in the castle. You were the only one there when Mother died, and again when Father died." Genji tilted his head. "Can't you see? You're also the only reminder of my bright memories."

Hanzo turned his face away from Genji, feeling tears start to blur his eyes. "But I was also the one to end those bright days, brother."

"All good things must come to an end, just like how all bad things must end too." A sound of moving metal plates. "It's true that the end of the good days was...traumatizing, but that doesn't mean the bad days must be around forever." A smooth metal hand wrapped around his, and Hanzo whipped his head back to look at Genji. "I want you there at the end of the good times. I want you there at the end of the bad times. Hanzo...will you stay with me?"

He had broken his first promise to protect him when he fought him. He had broken his second promise made in his memory to never pick up his sword again when he tired to kill himself. And now he was trying to make a third promise. A bitter part of him wondered how long it would take to break this promise, but the majority of him was glad for another chance to not disappoint his little brother again. He turned his hand in its restraint so he could grasp Genji's hand in return. "All right, Genji. I'll stay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hm. I got subsequently more and more disappointed with this, but it's fine enough I suppose. I might make a sequel with the contents of the two letters, and maybe another with the aftermath and the reactions of other Overwatch members, but we'll see.

**Author's Note:**

> Hanzo attempts a modified version of seppuku. And, yes I do know that seppuku is a samurai thing, but who cares about historical accuracy. Also, I have the rest of the story vaguely in place, but I felt a simple break would be too mild, so a chapter it is. Sorry for the cliffhanger. It wasn't intentional at all. (I'm not so pleased with the beginning--first and foremost, I should explain Hanzo's mindset better--so I might come back and rewrite it later after I've got the rest of the fic done.)


End file.
